


"Comfort and Joy"

by farad



Series: Christmas Carols [2]
Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 22:54:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/farad/pseuds/farad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dec. 23, afternoon</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Comfort and Joy"

**Author's Note:**

> Set the Christmas after "Obsession"; thanks to Kayim for the beta. Thanks also to Zeke Black and her awesome Magnificent Seven Handbook, with transcripts, pictures of the clothes the boys wore, and every thing else, and the people at Daybook for their quick answers to my specific detail needs! All mistakes my very own.

_"Now to the Lord sing praises,_   
_All you within this place,_   
_And with true love and brotherhood_   
_Each other now embrace;_   
_This holy tide of Christmas_   
_All other doth deface._   
_O tidings of comfort and joy,_   
_Comfort and joy_   
_O tidings of comfort and joy"_

 

\--from "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", verse seven;

the lyrics are traditional, possibly dating back to the 1500s

 

 

 

"Vin! Where you been?"

 

Vin finished tying off his saddlebag to the saddle, jerking on the leather thong several times to make sure it was tight. "Buck," he acknowledged as he finished up. "Been out rounding up things for Ms. Nettie and Mrs. Potter."

 

Buck wandered over to him, careful not to pass too close to the horse's hindquarters. "Looks like you're adding on, not taking off. You got more 'rounding up' to do?"

 

Vin rubbed his horse's neck, a promise that they wouldn't be waiting long, as he answered, "Nope, got everybody squared away, so I'm heading out for a couple of days."

 

Buck shook his head. "You and Chris got the same idea, about getting away from it all this time of year. I guess I can understand with him, what with losing Sara and Adam, then that whole mess with That Bitch this year, but . . . " He let the words drift off, the question clear enough.

 

Vin shrugged, reaching for the reins. "Reckon some of us just ain't as sociable as others," he said, making to mount up. The way things had been this year, it seemed safer to keep his own company.

 

But Buck put a hand on his shoulder, holding Vin. "What's the hurry? You got time for me to buy you a Christmas beer?"

 

Vin looked up at the sky. It was cool but sunny, though there were clouds gathering in the distance. He didn't think it was going to rain tonight, but he didn't want to be wandering around in the dark looking for a campsite. "Took me longer than I expected to hunt up a turkey for Nettie," he said. "Figure I best be on my - "

 

"You ain't turning down my Christmas present, are you?" Buck wheedled. "After I worked so hard to pick it out for you!"

 

Vin grinned despite himself. It was hard to say 'no' to Buck. "All right, but just one," he said. He pulled the reins forward, ignoring the horse's snort of disgust. "Won't be long," he said, rubbing the long nose as he tied off the reins to the hitching post, then he followed Buck up onto the boardwalk and through the swinging doors into the saloon.

 

It was busier than usual, Ezra already playing cards at a full table in the center, several other groups happily and loudly on their way to celebrating the holiday. There were red poinsettias scattered around the place, on tables and along the bar itself. Buck was at the bar, talking to Inez who had already poured one beer and was working on the second one. She was smiling, a good sign and one Vin suspected was because of the season, because unlike him, he knew she could say 'no' to Buck.

 

"Inez," he said, touching the brim of his hat as he came to stand next to Buck at the bar.

 

"Vin," she smiled back, setting the second beer in front of him. "You will be with us tonight?" She was wearing several of the red flowers in her hair. "We will have food and music – just as it was back home for me. You would like it."

 

"Thanks," he said, picking up his beer. "I probably would."

 

She narrowed her eyes, understanding the implied 'no'. But before she could say anything, someone else came up to the bar on the far end and she shook her head, walking away.

 

Buck watched her then slowly turned his gaze on Vin. "Would mean a lot to her if you stayed tonight," he said easily. "She's missing her family something awful."

 

"Ain't we all?" Vin asked. "Reckon she'll have enough to keep her busy, what with you being underfoot and all." He grinned at Buck, hoping to turn the conversation.

 

Buck grinned back, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You know, when I was a boy, Christmas was one of the busiest times of the year. My ma's work kept her moving all the time, but she never complained about the late hours or early afternoons. She always made sure we had our own little Christmas tree with presents under it – not many, we didn't have a lot of money, but there were always pretty packages wrapped in twine and ribbon." He smiled, his eyes fogging with the memory. "She'd wake me up in the morning singing Christmas songs – she loved the one about the partridge in the tree and she teased me all the time to be one of the leaping lords."

 

Vin nodded, amused at the image of it. He knew of the song though he didn't know it well, but enough to recognize what Buck was talking about.

 

"It was one of the best times of the year for me," Buck went on, lifting his beer mug. "Reckon that's why it's so important to me now. I like Christmas – like watching people laugh and sing and share the good things in life." He held out his mug in a toast and Vin touched it with his own, then they both drank.

 

After he swallowed and set his mug back on the table, Buck went on, his voice as easy as it had been before. "Reckon it's hard for people like Chris to be around all the laughter and music. Probably brings back the memories of what he's lost more than it does the memories of what he had."

 

Even though he didn't ask it as a question, there was a question in his tone, as if he was asking Vin what he thought. As if he was asking Vin if it was the same for him, the same question he'd hinted at outside.

 

Vin stared down into his beer, annoyed that there was a price on it. It was one of the things he hated about being around people, the sense of expectation they had, the idea that if they shared something with you, you were obligated to give back.

 

As if knowing his mind, Buck went on, "None of my business, of course. Just always been curious about why some people don't want to share the joy of the season. Only thing that makes any sense to me is that it hurts more than it helps."

 

Vin sighed, letting some of the irritation blow away. He sipped again from his beer, struggling to find something to say. Inez came back down the bar, giving him some time as she refilled Buck's mug. Business was, thankfully, picking up, enough so that she didn't stay long enough to get back to him.

 

"I can't speak for Chris," Vin started quietly, not looking at Buck. "Wouldn't – he's his own man with his own reasons, and I reckon you know him better than I do, at least on this point."

 

Buck shifted, leaning in closer so that his shoulder brushed against Vin's. "Kind of you to say," he offered after a time. "Bout me and Chris, that is. Don't know that it's all that true, though, not after the way things went back in the winter. The two of you . . . "

 

Vin shrugged, not wanting to have that conversation at all. So he offered up the first thing that came to mind. "My ma died when I was about five. After that, I lived with her ma, helping her with the farm. She wasn't much for holidays, said they spoiled people to what the real meaning was." He took a sip of his beer, not sure what else he wanted to say – hell, he hadn't wanted to say this much.

 

"You think that?" Buck asked, resting his elbows on the bar so that he could lean in a little closer. "You think it spoils the real meaning?"

 

Vin swallowed his sip. "Don't know," he said after a time. "To be honest, I guess I ain't sure what the real meaning is. We went to church every Sunday and on Christmas, too. So I reckon I know the story behind it and all, but . . . " He shook his head and sighed. "Josiah and I talked about it some and he's told me a lot of the 'saving the world' stuff, being born to die and all, but – hell, ain't we all? From the minute you're breathing, you ain't doing nothing but dying." He lifted his beer to finish it off, but before he did, he said, "I guess I just don't understand. It don't bother me none, I've been around people this time of the year, done the drinking and singing and dancing."

 

"It don't make you think of your ma?" Buck asked.

 

Vin thought on that for a few minutes, letting Inez refill his beer as she moved past and then away again. "Yeah, guess I do, but not the way you do. I don't remember a lot about Christmas with her, or that it was much different from what I had after. Don't recall her singing or a tree or nothing. Nothing like what you got, anyway."

 

"So – Christmas don't make you feel bad?" Buck asked and Vin heard the note of doubt in his voice.

 

He took a sip of his new beer, then he turned and looked at Buck. "I don't feel bad, no. But it does make me feel like I want to be where I can think about the stuff I need to think on. Hard to do that when there are lots of people around. Even when they mean well, even when I care for 'em."

 

"Can't you do that some other time? I mean, if it ain't Christmas driving you away, why can't you stay and share it with the rest of us – well, those of us that want you?"

 

Vin thought about it for a few minutes, weighing his desire to be away from most of this with his desire to make Buck happy. It'd been a long time since he'd spent time in a town, with people, at Christmas time.

 

It'd been a long time since anyone had wanted him to.

 

"What makes you think I'll be good company?" Vin asked, looking back at Buck.

 

Buck grinned, and this time, it reached his eyes. He knew he'd won his argument. "Hell, Vin, the worst company is out at his shack in the hills, probably drunk and shooting birds out of the trees. You can't be any worse than that, and I reckon you'll be a damned sight better once you get some of Inez's good food in you and some of Ezra's fine Christmas spirits!" He reached out an arm, dropping it on Vin's shoulders and squeezing hard.

 

Vin grunted, but he didn't complain. What was one night more in town? He could head out tomorrow, wander alone for a while, a few days, then maybe swing by and check on Chris.

 

Buck was right. He could be alone anytime he wanted. But he couldn't always be with people who wanted him to be there. Or people he wanted to be with. No matter what else had happened, there were people in the town that he cared for and who cared for him. In the wake of this past year, it was a good feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
